Archer Mauro Nespoli Goes Viral at 2024 Olympics As Fans Dub Him the ‘Italian Eminem’

Italian archer Mauro Nespoli’s knees were weak and his arms were heavy as Team Italy lost to host country France 6-2 during the archery men’s team quarterfinals at the 2024 Olympics on Monday (July 29). However, it wasn’t a complete loss for Nespoli, who found online fame as viewers turned him into a viral meme over comparisons to Eminem.

A photo of a focused Nespoli in action swept the internet on Monday. The archer rocked an Italy jersey and a bucket hat, while fans found similarities in his beard and face to Slim Shady.

“Yoooo it’s Marcello Mathers,” one fan quipped on X.

Another added, “There’s vomit on his sweater already, Nonna’s Spaghetti!”

A third chimed in, “Italian Eminem eating mom’s spaghetti it all makes sense now!”

Nespoli, who previously won gold at the 2012 games in London when Italy beat the U.S., had fun with the comparisons and reposted one of the photos championing him as the Italian Eminem to his InstagramStory. He added a Bitmoji of himself crying laughing and soundtracked the post with Em’s “Lose Yourself” anthem.

Although Slim Shady didn’t make the trip to Paris, hip-hop has been well-represented with Snoop Dogg making his presence felt as an official 2024 Olympics correspondent for NBC, and Flavor Flav in the house as the official hype man for the U.S water polo team.

Eminem returned with his The Death of Slim Shady album earlier in July, which unseated Taylor Swift’s 12-week reign for a debut atop the Billboard 200 with 281,000 total album units sold in the first week. The project has since dropped to No. 3 on the chart in its second week.

Find more reactions to the “Italian Eminem” below.